Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 231: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the progress of the Irish abroad initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41945/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Maintaining and strengthening links with our communities abroad is a key priority of my Department. Officials in our diplomatic missions and in the Irish Abroad Unit are very active in this regard and work closely with Irish community organisations across a wide range of issues.

The strong commitment of the Government to support our community abroad is reflected in the unprecedented level of funding secured for emigrant services. This year, €12 million is being disbursed to assist our communities abroad, an increase of 45% on 2005. The allocation for next year is €15.2 million, 27% more than this year. Overall, this represents a massive fifteen-fold increase since 1997.

While the needs of the vulnerable members of our community in Britain remain a particular area of concern, I am pleased that increased funding has enabled us to support a much wider range of initiatives than was possible in the past. Government funding is now supporting a number of capital projects, as well as initiatives that help to sustain Irish community networks. Another important area relates to initiatives that support homeless Irish people. The Simon Community in London estimates that the number of homeless Irish in central London has fallen from over 600 in 1999 to under 100 this year. I was pleased to note that Simon credits Irish Government funding with having played a key role in this.

The interests of the Irish in the United States are an important priority for the Government with the issue of the undocumented Irish being an area of particular concern. In all of our dealings with key figures in the US Administration and Legislature, we emphasise our strong support for measures that would enable the undocumented Irish to regularise their status and have open to them a path to permanent residence.

The Government is also working very closely with Irish community organisations that assist the Irish in the United States. I am happy to support them in their important work and have approved funding to them of over €1 million this year.

The Government has also supported Irish community groups in Australia and Canada, as well as a number of organisations in Ireland that are engaged in activities of benefit to Irish people abroad. In addition, this year I was happy to approve funding for the first time to Irish community organisations in Argentina, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

We will continue to support, and maintain very close contact with, organisations that do invaluable work for our community abroad. In this way, we will ensure that our response to identified needs is effective, and is developed further in the period ahead.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 232: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on contacts with the incoming congressional leadership in Washington DC in respect of undocumented Irish in the United States of America; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41946/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The welfare of the undocumented Irish in the United States is an issue of the highest priority for the Government. I raise our concerns in all of my dealings with key figures in the US Congress and Administration. In particular, I emphasise our strong support for measures that would enable the undocumented to regularise their status and have open to them a path to permanent residency.

Since the mid-term Congressional elections, I have written to senior US legislators to congratulate them on their re-election. In doing so, I have taken the opportunity to emphasise again the Government's deep commitment on the issue of the undocumented. Our Ambassador in Washington is also very active in highlighting our concerns in his on-going contacts with the incoming Congressional leadership, as are officials of our Consulates across the United States.

We are also maintaining very close contact with our community in the United States. I had another meeting in New York on 10 November with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, an organisation that is proving highly effective in communicating the Irish dimension to this issue on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.

I greatly appreciate and welcome the renewed commitment of Senators Kennedy and McCain to the advancement in the new Congress of their comprehensive approach to immigration reform. In cooperation with them, I look forward to a further intensification of the Government's efforts on behalf of the undocumented, in particular when the incoming Congress is convened in the New Year.